Welcome Home, Rory
by Sleep.Sniff.Eat46
Summary: Rory comes back to Stars Hollow for Christmas after months of following Barack Obama's campaign trail. When she gets to Luke's apartment, who do you think she finds there? *I do not own these characters. They belong to the creators of the show.*
1. Chapter 1

_Preamble: This is a Rory/Jess fanfic. He is my favourite Rory love affair person. I think Jess really understands Rory best than the others. But I don't think you'd want to read me talking anymore so I'll stop._

**Welcome Home, Rory**

Rory graduated from Yale University. She is working for an online magazine for about seven months now following and reporting on Barack Obama's campaign trail. It seems to be going good. He still has months of campaigning left.

Christmas is near and they're going on hiatus. Tomorrow, she's going back to Stars Hollow and she's really excited about seeing her family and friends soon. She has been sending post cards and emails and phone calls to every one who are dear to her. That means, there are a lot of post cards, emails and phone calls. She is basically using 5% of her salary on post cards and phone calls.

Rory was lying on her bed, trying to sleep. She was recollecting the events that happened the last time she was home. She had been wondering if she'd made the right decision. She was glad though that her mom got back together with Luke. _Maybe they'll even plan a wedding soon._ _I just hope they won't elope like what mom and dad did. That really upset me that I wasn't there when they got married,_ she thought. Logan looked really depressed when she rejected his proposal. _Maybe I should go see him. _She paused, contemplating if she should._ No, I should just go to sleep. Tomorrow, I'm going back to Stars Hollow. I should be happy. I'm going to see my mom and Luke, Zach and Lane and the twins! And Grandma and Grandpa, Babette, Miss Patty… _and the list goes on and on. By recounting who she will be seeing tomorrow, she was happier and fell asleep in the middle of her thoughts.

Rory woke up quite early, 5:47 a.m., to be exact. It was now 6:15 and since she woke up, she has been packing her clothes and valuables and of course, souvenirs on her bed. Which works well as Christmas presents. The sun was just about rising and a little ray of sunlight entered through her window. She heard a knock on her door.

"Rory?" the voice from the other side of the door said.

"Oh, come in," Rory said and she continued to pack.

The door opened and a man wearing glasses and a polo shirt poked his head in. "Oh hi, Paul," Rory greeted him.

Paul came in and closed the door behind him. "Hi, Rory. I just wanted to say good bye and Happy Holidays before you leave."

"Aww, thanks Paul, you're a doll."

"So, you seem pretty excited to go back home."

"Yeah, I miss my mom and the small town. I'll probably get trampled when I get home. But it's okay. I'm being trampled for a good thing."

"Well, they like you a lot. Anyway, I better go now. Oh, by the way, can I borrow some stamps? I really need to send a couple letters here and there."

"Oh sure, they're over there at my desk."

He walked over to the desk to grab some. "Okay, got 'em. Bye Rory."

"Bye, Paul. Happy Holidays!" Paul walked out of her room and Rory kept on packing.

____________

It was quite a busy day at Luke's. Mostly, people were talking about how Rory was coming back for Christmas. The usual people were in there. Babette, Miss Patty, Kirk and Lulu, Taylor and many more. Lorelai came in. Everywhere people jumped at her and asked her questions about Rory.

"Umm. Wait… HEY!" Lorelai shouted. Everyone went quiet. "Okay, I can't answer your questions all at once. You know who I think you should ask? Rory. She will gladly ask your questions when she gets here." Lorelai smiled.

"As town selectman, I believe we should hold a town meeting where Rory will be our special guest. She will stand at the podium and people will ask questions one by one. If things get out of hand she will bang the gavel and you are expected to be silenced. That way, it would be more civil and orderly." Taylor declared.

"I think that's a great idea. You know, more orderly and civil because there's nothing I like more than civility and order." Lorelai said. Internally, Lorelai is laughing at this. _Something to mock Rory for! _She thought.

"Okay, what time will she come?" Miss Patty asked.

"Uh, she will come at around 3:30." Lorelai answered.

"Oh sugar, I'm so excited to see our little reporter!" Babette exclaimed.

"Yes, it is exciting. I assure you that she has not added any new tattoos or any other piercings besides her ears. Anyway, I'm gonna.." pointed toward the stool by the counter and walked towards it.

"Okay, we'll talk to you later, sugar." Babette said.

She sat down in her usual spot at the counter. Luke emerged from the kitchen and greeted Lorelai, "Good morning."

"Good morning. How come you left me at home? I could have come with you. Do you know how it made me feel when I woke up without you by my side?" Lorelai said.

"Well, I want you to be well rested when you see Rory. Also, I wanted to get a head start on Rory's Welcome Home feast. You know, fries, burger, mac and cheese, pancakes, doughnuts and many more of her unhealthy favourites."

"Aww, that's sweet that you're doing that for Rory. Do I get any of those unhealthiness?"

"Normally, I would say no because I want you to live to the day when we plan our wedding but sure. I'll get you some pancakes and bacon."

"With a side of danish?"

"Coming right up."

"And eggs, sausages, toast and muffins! Oh and hey, you forgot to pour me coffee!"

"Go ahead and pour your own coffee!" Luke replied from the kitchen.

Lorelai went behind the counter and took the coffee pot and she poured her own cup. She also grabbed a slice of peach pie.

A man came in to Luke's. He sat on the table near the window that's directly in front of the counter. Lorelai grabbed an apron, baseball cap, a pad and a pencil and went over to the person who walked in. "Hey, can I take your order?" Lorelai asked him.

"Do not take orders!!" Luke yelled from the kitchen.

"Oh come on! I used to take orders here before when you needed help!!" Lorelai yelled back. The man sat there quite uncomfortably

"No, I don't want you to do anything. I want you to sit and relax and eat your pie!!"

"How did you know that I took pie?!"

"Two words says it all: Lorelai Gilmore."

"Oh." Lorelai now started to talk in a whisper, "Don't listen to him. Now tell me, what would you like to eat?"

"Uhh, I would like," the man started to say but was immediately cut off by Luke saying, "Lorelai! Put the apron down and sit back on your own seat!" Luke yelled again.

"Fine!!" Lorelai pouted and sat back down. Luke emerged from the kitchen and he walked over to the guy Lorelai was trying to take orders from.

"Hi, sorry about that. What would you like to order?" Luke asked him. The guy told him what he wanted and Luke said, "Okay, I'll be right back with your order."

Luke went to the pouting lady and asked, "How are you doing?"

"You're mean! You wouldn't let me play!" Lorelai said. She pouted again and crossed her arms.

A bell rang and Luke went back to the kitchen. And Lorelai continued to say, "I never want to see you again! I will shun you to nonexistence! I will throw out all your stuff out my window! I will.."

By that time Luke brought out a plate filled with eggs, pancakes, sausages, bacon, danish, toast and muffins. All steaming with unhealthy goodness. And Lorelai says, "I love you. I will set up a shrine for you."

"Well, build a shrine for me later. Eat."

Lorelai dug in. Not surprisingly, she consumed all the copious amounts of food on her plate, including the peach pie.

____________

Lorelai got to the airport at 2:30 p.m because she could not contain herself. She and Luke were sitting in the waiting chair the closest to the gate Rory will come out from. Every now and then she squeezes Luke's hand. Sometimes, a little too hard.

"Ow! That was harder than last time!" Luke exclaimed.

"Sorry! I'm just so excited!! In a few minutes I'd be able to see my child, my offspring, the fruit of my loin, my daughter. I cannot contain myself." Lorelai replied.

"I should have gotten you a stress ball on the way over here."

"Do you not like my squeezes of love?"

"I do not mind the squeezes. I mind the pain. You know I run a diner and my hands are very important to me."

"Fine. I'll try to squeeze a little lighter this time."

Lorelai squeezed again. Luke twisted his face in pain. He decided to give up and he just let her squeeze as hard as she could.

It's 3:30 and people started emerging from the gate. Lorelai gave Luke a final squeeze and stood up. _So many people that aren't Rory, _Lorelai thought. _Not Rory. Not Rory, Not Rory… _She thought as the people who were not Rory passed by.

Then finally, someone she recognized arrives. She was kind of struggling with her luggage. Lorelai picked up a card that says **"****Welcome to Stars Hollow, Rory Gilmore!!****" **The card was decorated with baby pictures of Rory. She held it up and Rory saw it and a huge smile appeared on her face. Rory started running towards her mother. She dropped her luggage and hugged her mom. Lorelai squeezed tight.

"Ow, mom, I can't breathe. You're squeezing too tight. You should really have a stress ball." Rory gasped.

"Yes, I know that's what I said." Luke said.

Lorelai released her grip and Rory said, "Air!"

"Oh hush! I missed you so much Rory!!! How could you do this to me?! Making me miss you as much as this! You should be punished!" Lorelai said.

"Well, I can tell you missed me so much by the pressure of your hug and I love the card. I will forever resent you for this. What should be my punishment?"

"Well, you don't resent me for many things, so this is once in a blue moon. Your punishment is that you must spend every waking hour with your mother whom you've abandoned for seven months now. And the start of your punishment is from this poster. I will hold it up for everyone to see."

"I'm going to be so humiliated! Fine, I will spend my waking hours with you. But I will do it with resistance!"

"Okay, let's go home. Be prepared to be trampled and asked questions."

"Is this part of my punishment too?"

"No, believe it or not, it's not a punishment. The town just loves you in the most dangerous of ways."

Luke and Lorelai grabbed her luggage.

_____________

As Luke's truck came closer to the town square, there was a crowd gathered at the gazebo. As they got closer to Luke's, the crowd started following is truck.

"Oh my goodness! There's a crowd out there! Luke, slow down and be careful!!" Rory exclaimed.

"Crazy town people!!" Luke yelled.

"Hey, Rory, you're the town's Beatle. Okay, here's the thing, when we get to Luke's I want you to get out, run in to the diner, and into Luke's apartment as fast as you could!! Lock the door when you go in!" Lorelai said.

"I'm really scared!" Rory cried.

"Don't be! Just follow what I said."

Luke's truck stopped in front of his diner. "GO!!" Lorelai ordered.

Rory jumped out of the car and ran towards the diner. The crowd ran after her. In the crowd, she heard "WE MISSED YOU RORY!!!" Rory ignored it and climbed the stairs towards Luke's apartment. She closed the door behind her and locked it. She turned around, leaned her back on the door and sighed. She closed her eyes and she just tried to catch her breath.

"Hey, Rory, I didn't know you were coming back," a voice says from within. She was very shocked to hear someone's voice. She opened her eyes to look at where or whom the voice came from.

"Jess?" Rory said as she saw who it was. She walked towards him as she was trying to make sure that it wasn't fake or a hologram.

Luke and Lorelai came in the apartment and lugging up Rory's luggage. Lorelai was saying, "Man that was crrazy! Rory, you've got to stop having that impact on people, otherwise, we might get trampled to death……" Lorelai trailed off as she saw who the unexpected guest was. "Jess?"

"Jess? What are you doing here?" Luke asked.

To be continued…


	2. Thawing out

_Preamble: Second chapter to Rory's homecoming. I don't know what else to add. So, do enjoy!_

**Thawing Out**

"Jess? What are you doing here?" Luke asked.

"Well, I haven't been to this small town for a while and I have an engagement somewhere in Hartford. So I thought 'Why not go see my uncle Lucas.'" Jess smiled as he said so. He glanced over at Rory and asked, "You okay there Rory?" Jess has found that Rory hasn't moved.

"What?" Rory says breaking from her trance, "Oh, I'm fine. I'm just shocked because you're here. I haven't seen you in a while. Last time I saw you was in Philly."

"Sorry, I should have sent a warning so that you'd be less surprised." Jess smiled a warm smile. Rory tried to smile back but she could only manage a little smile. They looked at each other and Rory felt that his eyes were so warm and pleasant to look at. Jess realized how much he missed those vibrant, sparkling blue eyes. Lorelai looked down on her feet and cleared her throat. Rory and Jess broke eye contact and prompted Jess to say, "Oh, uh, the thing I'm going to Hartford is a stop for a book tour for my new book."

"Wow, that's pretty exciting," Lorelai said, "How long will you be here for?" She looked intently at him sensing a vibe and trying to analyze what that eye contact was.

"Uh, about a week. That means I'll be here for Christmas."

"Where will you go after Harford?" Still looking intently at him.

"Well, I'm not sure yet. I'll be getting a phone call with all the details." Lorelai, Rory and Luke nodded. It turned silent. They could all hear the voices from outside talking about some gossip and of course, Rory. After that long moment of silence, Jess asked, "Do you guys want to sit? Or would you prefer to stand?"

"Sitting is good." Luke said.

They all went to the couch and sat down. Rory was still quite stiff. She needed some fresh air before she could talk to him. She needed to think a little. She needed to talk to a friend. "Actually," Rory started to say, "I kind of want to go see Lane right now. So if you guys don't mind, I'll just see you later."

"Go ahead," Lorelai said, " We'll meet you back at the house for dinner, 'kay?"

"Okay — but wait, what about the crowd?" She asked nervously.

"I know." Lorelai disappeared into Luke's closet. The others heard some clattering and an "Ow! Stupid fishing rod!" Luke sighed at what he was hearing. Finally, she came out with a flannel shirt, baseball cap and sunglasses. "Put these on for disguise. Tuck your hair under the hat."

Rory put on the shirt, hat and sunglasses. She straightened everything out and asked, "Am I good?"

"Good, just remember to lay low, alright kid?"

"'Kay mom, see you later. Bye Luke. Jess."

Rory walked to the door and out of the apartment. As soon as she closed the door, she ran to Lane's house. The air outside was cold and snowy. People on the street turned their heads at her. She tried not to catch so much attention but the sunglasses with the outfit was kind of awkward looking. She didn't care though. She was almost at Lane's anyway.

___________

Lane heard a knock on their door. Two little babies were crawling around. One was near his father by his feet and playing with his pants. The other was by himself playing with a toy xylophone. Lane got up to get the door.

"Zach, watch out for Kwan, he might crawl off somewhere." Lane called from over her shoulder.

"'Kay, babe."

Lane opened the door and immediately, a huge smile appeared on her face. "RORY!!" Lane exclaimed and hugged Rory.

"Hey Rory." Zach called from within.

"Hi Zach." Rory said, still in Lane's arms.

"Oh my God, I missed you!!" Lane said.

"I missed you too! You hug almost as tightly as my mom!" Rory said and Lane released her grip. Rory breathed for air. "How are the twins?" She asked.

"Oh, they're in here, come in. What's with the outfit?" Rory walked in and Lane closed the door behind her.

"Oh, well there was a crowd outside and I didn't want to get trampled. So this is a disguise."

"Yeah because you wouldn't look suspicious in that outfit."

"Well, this is the only thing we could find in Luke's closet."

"Well, that's Luke for you." They laughed and Lane showed Rory where the twins are. That one by Zach is Steve," she pointed to the toddler by Zach's feet, "and that one by the xylophone is Kwan," she pointed to the toddler by the xylophone.

"Wow, they look so grown up! The last time I saw them, they couldn't even lift their heads up! And now they're crawling!"

"Yeah I know! They're almost in their walking stage. Kwan actually almost did it. He stood up but he sat back down."

"Aww, that's cute. They'll get there eventually."

"Yeah. So I hear you're the guest speaker at the town meeting tomorrow."

"What?! Where did you hear that?"

"It's all over town! Taylor said that you'll stand at the podium and the town will ask you questions."

"Oh man!" Rory frowned.

"Yeah. But the upside is, you'll get to bang a gavel. That's fun right?" Lane asked as she was trying to cheer up a frowning Rory. Then a smile slowly appeared on her face.

"That would be kind of cool." She smiled.

"See, it'll be fun. At least some parts of it will."

"Yeah." They were silent for a while. Then Rory remembered the whole Jess thing. Then she said, "Hey, I have to tell you something."

"What?"

"I went into Luke's apartment to be away from the crowd and you'll never guess who I saw there."

"Who was it? Kirk?"

"No, Jess."

"Jess?"

"Yes."

"Jess was in Luke's apartment?"

"Yes, Jess was in Luke's apartment.

"Weird."

"Weird." Rory agreed while nodding her head.

"What's he doing here? Is he back for good?"

"No, he's just staying at Luke's because he's got a book tour thing for his new book."

"Where?"

"Hartford."

"Oh."

"And we'll be having dinner with him later. Luke says that he prepared a welcome home feast for me. So there'll be lots of food."

"That sounds exciting. I think we should go into a separate room for some girl talk."

"Okay."

"Zach, we'll just be in babies' room. Call if you need anything."

"Okay." Zach replied.

Lane led Rory into the babies' room. The room was filled with toys and baby stuff. They sat on two chairs.

"So, how do you feel about this?"

"Uhm, well, it's a little weird but I think I'll get used to it."

"That's good. When was the last time you saw him?"

"It was in 2006, I believe. I went to his thing in Philly and we kind of kissed."

"You kissed him?"

"Well, Logan had cheated on me with multiple girls and I got so angry. I think I hurt him because the only reason that I kissed him was to get back at Logan."

"How come you didn't tell me this?"

"I don't know. I was too ashamed and embarrassed of what I did. I shouldn't have done that to him. He said he didn't deserve that and he didn't because that was a terrible thing for me to do."

"Oh." Their conversation was cut short when they heard a muffled cry of babies.

"Lane! We got baby trouble!" Zach called from the living room. Lane and Rory came bursting out of the room and they saw Zach holding one of the crying babies, which was Steve. The other baby was still on the floor crying.

"What happened?!" Lane asked frantically.

"Well, Kwan was peacefully playing with the xylophone and Steve was still playing with my pants. Then, Steve decided he wants to play with the xylophone. He goes over to the xylophone but Kwan's in the way. So he starts pushing him away and Kwan starts crying so I took Steve away. Then Steve started crying and then I called out to you and now here we are." Zach explained without taking a breath.

Lane picked up Kwan and started rocking him. "It's okay," Lane was whispering to the baby repeatedly. When Kwan's crying has died down a little, she turned to Steve and said gently, "Steve that wasn't a very nice thing to do. You don't push Kwan away. Kwan is your brother." When she said this, Steve just stared at her and touched her nose.

Rory looked at the clock and it was a quarter to seven. She had to go back home to her house for dinner. She has to go see Jess again. _But it's okay, _she thought, _I'll just act nonchalantly._

"Lane I have to go now," Rory said. "It's almost time for the feast. Do you want to come? There's lots of food." Rory offered.

"Well, we've got nothing planned so…okay." Lane said.

"Great! I'll help you get the babies ready."

"Okay. Zach, will you bring the baby bags and get the stroller ready? We'll put the babies in their coats."

"On it!" Zach said. He put the baby on the couch and went to prepare the stuff.

Lane got the babies coats and handed one to Rory and said, "Put that one on Steve." Rory nodded and went over to Steve and put his coat on.

Rory, Lane and Zach were almost to Rory's house. Just about 5 houses down. Zach was pushing stroller and Rory was inquiring Zach about being the lead guitarist of Vapor Rub.

"It was so awesome! It was pretty tiring, you know, playing nights and all. It was a relief to come home to see my wife and kids." Zach paused, "Woah, that sounded so grown up."

"Well, we are growing up. Were there no highlights to this experience? I'm sure there was something."

"Yeah, I got to shake hands with Led Zeppelin's guitarist!"

"Really?! Wow, that sounds amazing!"

"Yeah, he was in the audience checking the bands out. I could hardly talk. He said I was good and he gave me a card so he could 'hook me up.' Up till now, it's still in the pants pocket of the pants I wore that night. I haven't touched it yet. I will eventually."

"That's so cool."

"I kind of wished I was there to document the moment." Lane said as she frowned.

"Well honey I wanted you to be there too so you could have done the talking for me but you wanted to stay at home with the kids."

"I know but I wouldn't be able to talk for you either. I'd be just as petrified as you would have been. But I wanted to be petrified with you!"

They walked up Rory's lawn and approached the porch. Rory opened the door and said "Mom? I'm home. I brought Lane with me." They all stepped inside and Rory closed the door.

"Rory?"

"Mom?"

"Rory?!" a different voice answered excitedly. It was another woman's voice. It sounded familiar to her. Rory pondered on who it was.

She realized and then she she called out, "Sookie?"

Sookie appeared before her and said, "Oh my God Rory! You look so grown up!" Sookie hugged Rory and released her grip.

"Really? Would you suspect that I'm a journalist?"

"Of course! If I saw you walking down the street, I'd be like, 'Oh hey, there's a journalist walking by with her typewriter!'"

"Yes, because I'd be walking around with a typewriter."

"Of course. Hi Lane, Zach." she greets them. "Hello kittens!" she says to the babies. "Come in, there's plenty of food. We weren't kidding about this feast. We went all out."

"Great. Oh Sookie, how's your new baby? It's a girl right? What's her name?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, it's a girl. Her name is Lorelai because we've all used up our other names on Martha."

"That's so cool. More Lorelais will fill the earth!"

"Yes, the world can't get enough of Lorelais."

As they went into to kitchen, they saw it was full of people. Luke, Jess, Lorelai, Davey, and Martha were standing there holding up a sign that said "Welcome Home, Rory!" Jackson was there but he wasn't holding up the sign with them. He was holding a little bundle in his arms.

____________

When dinner was over, they all sat down to talk for a while. The kids were being watched by Zach and Jackson. Luke and Lorelai were arguing about whether Paul Anka should sleep on their bed or not. The rest were talking to each other, asking what they have been up to.

When it was nearing 9:00 p.m., Lane, Zach, Sookie and Jackson had to go because the children are getting cranky and they have to sleep. Lorelai, Luke, Rory and Jess stood up and led them to the door.

It was cold outside and the air was crisp. They waved goodbye to their friends. Luke and Lorelai were heading inside but Rory stayed put.

"You coming inside?" Lorelai asked Rory.

"No, I'll stay out here for a while." Rory responded.

"'Kay, night babe."

"'Night."

Lorelai's eyes quickly darted to Jess and walked in with Luke. _I'm definitely sensing a vibe here, _she thought.

Rory was still staring out at the lawn. Oh, how she missed her lawn. She just stood there and let it all sink in.

Jess stepped a little closer to Rory and asked, "So how's Barack Obama doing?"

Rory was quite shocked that her moment of silence was interrupted but she answered, "He's doing really well. He might actueally become the democratic candidate. Wouldn't it be cool if he were to be our first African-American president? I mean, it would be cool if Hillary Clinton were to be our first woman president. If either of them win, we'd either have a woman president or an African-American president. It would be a big change for America if either of them win. They are both pretty well educated and—" Rory stopped because she saw Jess was smiling. "Why are you smiling?" smiling a little herself because his smile was contagious.

"Nothing. I just like to hear you talk and ramble. You still haven't changed Rory. The only time that I actually saw you changed was with that guy, Logan. Speaking of, are you still with him?"

"Oh, no, we broke up after my graduation. He actually proposed to me but I said I wasn't ready to get married yet. So he said it's either we get married now or we don't see each other anymore. So I chose not to marry him."

"Oh sorry. Can I just say that I hate that guy?"

"Yeah. Looking back, I actually didn't have a good history with him. I stole a boat, I ended up in jail and I dropped out of Yale. All of that in a course of a month."

"Wow, I quite don't know what to say to that." Jess smiled at her and Rory smiled back. "Welcome Home, Rory." Jess said and held out his hand.

"Thanks it's good to be back." Rory grinned and reached for his hand to shake it.


	3. When Does Rest Start?

_**Preamble: **__In this chapter, it's more centered towards Lorelai and Rory. Since they've been away from each other long, I figure they need to have a mother-daughter day. The next chapter will have more Rory/Jess moments. I apologize. I also apologize that I haven't updated it in a while._

**When Does Rest Start?**

It was night and everyone in the Gilmore residence are fast asleep, at least, almost everyone. Lorelai was awakened by some light clattering from downstairs. She feared that someone must have broken in.

"Luke, get up! I hear someone downstairs," Lorelai said as she tried to wake Luke up.

"What? It's probably Paul Anka," Luke mumbled drowsily.

"Paul Anka is right here," she pointed to an area on the bed where she heard the dog whimper.

"Well, it's probably just your imagination," Luke said as he fell asleep and started snoring.

"Ugh, fine. I'll get up," Lorelai said as she climbed out of her bed in a beautiful pink night gown. Luke shifted in his sleep and Lorelai tried to grab something to defend herself with. She couldn't find anything else, so she just held one of her slipper in her hands.

When she got downstairs, she saw that all the lights were off except for the one in the kitchen. She slowly crept in and readied her slipper. She heard some sort of metal thing hitting the sink. When she heard water being poured, she went in but stopped because she recognized who it was.

"Rory?" Lorelai said slowly.

"Hi mom," Rory said cheerfully.

"Rory, what are you doing up?" Lorelai asked, startled.

"Oh, I couldn't sleep because of jet lag. Then I was hungry so now, I'm making mac and cheese."

"It's three in the morning."

"Yes, I know. I know how to read time since I was four."

"Uh-huh. Am I still dreaming or am I having a déjà vu right now?"

"What do you mean?"

**Lorelai was awakened with a little jolt. She decided to get up to get water. As she climbed out of the bed. Luke shifted in his sleep and mumbled, "Where are you going?"

"Shh. Go back to sleep. I'm just going to get some water," Lorelai said softly.

She got downstairs and as she got closer to the kitchen, she heard some pots lightly clattering and water being poured. Lorelai rubbed her eyes and blinked as if she'd seen Santa Claus. When she opened her eyes, Rory was still there. She slapped herself to make sure that she was awake and she was. Rory was making mac and cheese. Lorelai slowly backed out of the kitchen.

As she climbed up the stairs, she said, "That was weird. I should really watch what I eat before I sleep."

____________

"RISE AND SHINE!!!!" Lorelai yelled as she burst into Rory's room.

Rory jumped up to a sitting position and yelled, "AHH! What time is it?!?!"

"It's twelve-thirty in the afternoon. Come on, get up. We need to get you clothes for the town meeting today," Lorelai mocked.

"Oh right," Rory remembered with a frown. "Which you didn't tell me about, by the way. I had to hear it from Lane."

"Oh, did I not tell you? Well maybe I was busy gloating. And you do know that 'by the way' was blasphemy back then?"

"Haha, very funny," Rory said sarcastically. "Yes, I did know that. Since when did you suddenly care whether we're talking in blasphemy or not? You don't even know all of the Ten Commandments."

"I don't. That was just a matter-of-fact thing. Now get ready. We should leave the house at one," Lorelai said and left Rory's room.

____________

Lorelai and Rory were in the Jeep racing through the highway.

"Mom, slow down! We might get a ticket!" Rory warned.

"Gah! We should have left at one! How did we end up leaving at two-fifteen?!"

"It was because you were trying to figure out how to TiVo _The Philadelphia Story_! You could have left that to Luke!"

"Left that to Luke? He doesn't even care about the TV except for the sports! He doesn't even know how to text on a cell phone. Which is good because I hate receiving text messages."

"Why not?"

"Because it's so impersonal. People who text don't even spell the whole word and it bothers me. Instead of 'to' they write '2.' It's really weird. I also hate online chat shortcuts. They say 'lol' but they're not even laughing out loud. You say something that's not that funny and they say 'lol.' It's either they have nothing to say or they have a low sense of humour. I mean, what is that?!"

Just then, Lorelai and Rory heard a siren. Lorelai glanced at her rearview mirror. "Oh shit!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"I told you!"

Lorelai pulled over to the side of the road and waited nervously for the officer. He knocked on her door and Lorelai zipped her window down.

"Do you know why I pulled you over?" The officer asked.

"Because of the dead body I got in the back?" Lorelai joked.

"Mom!" Rory whispered but Lorelai waved it away.

"Ma'am, did you know you were speeding?" He asked.

"I'm sorry officer. I usually don't notice when I'm going too fast," she said as she did the Groucho eyebrow waggle.*

[Time Lapse]

"I can't believe you flirted your way out of a ticket," Rory awed as they were driving again. "Usually it doesn't work but YOU made it work. You have powers. Although, you said things that I would never want to hear from my mother, or any one for that matter, but that was amazing."

"Yes. Well, one day, I will hand over my powers to you. Since you've already got the coffee addiction, the fast metabloism, eyes, hair and mostly everything else."

"Okay. So what exactly do you plan on me wearing to the meeting tonight?"

"You'll see," Lorelai said as her mouth pulled up to a grin and again she did the Groucho eyebrow waggle.

"Should I be afraid of that smile?"

"Yes. Very afraid."

_____________

"So, what should we hit first?" Lorelai asked as they stood in the middle of the mall.

"I don't know. Oh, I see bunch of cute stuff in there," Rory said as she pointed to one of the stores.

"Okay. Here we go."

They entered the store and immediately, a very preppy red-haired girl stood in front of them and asked very cheerfully, "Hello! How can I help you?"

"Uhh, hi. It's alright, we're just going to look around ourselves," Lorelai said trying to brush the girl away.

"Over there, we have nice suits," the girl continued.

"Okay," Lorelai said as the girl didn't listen to what Lorelai said.

"And we got some beautiful blouses over here,"

"Umm."

"And there, we have some great dress pants," the girl said as she turned around to point at the racks with the pants. Lorelai sighed in defeat as her shoulders fell.

"—What was it that you said?" preppy girl asked.

_Oh THAT she hears,_ she thought."Oh, nothing. I didn't say anything."

"Alright. Now over there.."

Lorelai and Rory looked at each other with an exasperated look on their faces. They lost attention from the preppy girl and started looking around the store while the girl was talking to them. They liked the stuff. They didn't like the girl though. She was too preppy for them. They figure they should just come back later until the girl is gone.

"Oh, uhm I'm sorry, but we have to get this thing right now because we're really itching to get it. You were very pleasant," Lorelai lied. "We'll come back later to get some stuff."

"Oh that's alright. But I'm going off duty soon. If you want, I could stay until you come back."

"Oh, that's not necessary. We'll be gone a long, long, very long time and I don't want you to stay here and just wait for us. So, uhh, we'll be going now."

"Okay. Bye!" preppy girl said enthusiastically.

As they reached a safe distance, Lorelai said, "Run!" and they ran away as far as they could. They stopped in front of another store and they were trying to catch their breath.

"Let's start with this one," Lorelai panted as they pointed to the store in front of them.

___________

The Gilmores have gone around the whole mall; shopping and their hands were almost full of bags. They still wanted to go to their last stop.

"God, I wish Luke was here. Then he would be carrying our bags," Lorelai said as they were walking.

They got closer to the store that they first been in. They slowly walk to the side to make sure that they're not going to be seen.

"Hey, go check if she's still there," Rory said.

"Me, why me? I already excused us from her a while ago," Lorelai said.

"Well, you're older."

"That's not fair! You go check."

"Fine."

Rory peeks ever so slightly in the window. She couldn't believe her eyes. She was still there!

"She's still there!" Rory whispered.

"What? Are you sure?"

"Who are you going to believe, me or my eyes? — Oh! I think she saw us! Run!"

They ran as fast as they could towards their car, away from the sinister store.

___________

Lorelai and Rory were back in Stars Hollow and people on the street were telling Rory how they're so excited for the town's meeting tonight.

"I hate you, you know that?" Rory said.

"And I love you!" Lorelai countered.

"My feet hurt."

"So do mine. Man, that girl would not give up. She's like the _Seed of Chucky._ It's such a shame we didn't get to shop at that store."

"I know. Such cute things," Rory said as she frowned.

"Well, the other stuff that we got were cute. You're going to do a fashion show for me later to decide what to wear."

"Do I really have to do that?" Rory whined.

"Yes," Lorelai smiled as she said deviously.

________

"Mom, I don't want to go to the town meeting!" Rory said as Lorelai was dragging her towards Miss Patty's.

"Come on Rory. If you don't do this, all hell will break loose! Now, stop being a baby and get on with this!"

As they entered Miss Patty's, everyone cheered for Rory. Taylor immediately banged his gavel.

"People! People! Settle down! You'll get to talk to Rory, our guest of honour, as soon as you have all settled down," Taylor said as he tried to silence everyone. "Now, Rory, come up here."

Lorelai pushed Rory to the front. "Mommy! Don't leave me!" Rory whispered to her mom.

"That's how I felt when you first went to pre-school," Lorelai whispered back.

"Well, pre-school seemed a lot more fun and nicer!"

"You'll do fine. This should have been our scene 18 years ago!"

Rory stepped up to the podium and she very timidly said, "Hi everyone."

Everyone cheered.

"So uh, wow. I feel very loved and scared at the same time," Rory said as she tried to warm up and everyone laughed. "So, I'm not really sure what's going to happen. Taylor, what am I supposed to do?" She said as she turned to Taylor.

"People, one at a time would ask Rory the questions you wish to ask Rory," Taylor said to the whole room.

Everyone's hands shot up in the air and making noises trying to get Rory's attention to be picked.

"People, settle down! Rory bang the gavel!"

Rory banged the gavel like she didn't know what she was doing. After two whacks, everyone seemed to settle down. "So um, I'll take your questions now," Rory said as she seemed unsure. "Let's start with uhh," Rory said as she tried to look for someone, "Babette."

"Yes! Oh sugah! We missed ya so much, didn't we Morey?" Babette said and turned to Morey for an answer.

"Yes," Morey replied.

"See, hun. We missed ya terribly. I lie in bed sometimes wondering if you miss us. Do you?"

"Of course I missed you Babette. I missed all of you," She said turning to the room. "Okay, who's next? Uhm, yes Lulu?"

"Hi Rory! We missed you, Kirk and me. I really like your outfit. Where did you get it?"

"Only ask questions that are relevant to Rory's work place or Rory," Taylor interrupted but Rory ignored him.

"Well I got it today at this mall in Hartford in this store filled with some retro stuff. I think I'm wearing something circa 1953. Well, it looks like it's from circa 1953," Rory said as she looked down at what she was wearing. She was wearing a dress that kind of looks like the dress Audrey Hepburn wore at the beginning of _Sabrina._

"I have a question," Kirk declared.

"Yes Kirk?"

"How are your living conditions? Are there any bugs at the place you are staying at? Because that's not a good thing. If you want, I could exterminate them for you. At Kirk's Exterminations™, we guarantee that we will exterminate all the bugs and other pests in your hotel."

"That's great Kirk but I don't think I have bugs in my hotel room," Rory said as she gave Kirk a quizzical look. "Next? Miss Patty?"

"Hello Rory, I was just wondering if you're still dating that adoring Logan boy."

"Oh, uh I'm not dating him anymore."

"Oh Rory I'm sorry. If you don't want him, can I have him?"

"Of course, Miss Patty, you can," Rory said as she laughed through her sentence.

Rory then saw Jess raise his hand up and she reluctantly picked him to state his question. "Yes, Jess?" She said.

"I was just wondering what book you're into right now," Jess said as he stood up.

Rory was kind of startled at his question and said, "Well, right now, I'm reading _Sophie's World._"

"Ahh, that's a very good book," he commented. "Thank you, that's all I wanted to know." Jess sat back down and another person raised his hand.

The night went on with the whole question and answer routine. Some questions were ridiculous and some were sensible. Kirk was still trying to convince Rory to hire Kirk's Exterminations™ but Rory of course declined.

__________

After a long night, everyone started going home and the meeting was over. Rory sighed with relief. The Gilmores, Luke and Jess were the last people in Miss Patty's.

"Thank God it's over!" Rory exclaimed. "That was exhausting!"

"You did great. As a reward, we'll be watching _Breakfast at Tiffany's. _You know, I'm thinking of getting a cat and I'm going to name him Cat. What do you think?" Lorelai said.

"_Breakfast at Tiffany's!_ No, you cannot get a cat. You already have Paul Anka."

"But he's doing just fine! I can take care of this cat."

"You will not get a cat," Luke declared.

"But—"

"No."

"Why—"

"No."

"Let me—"

"No. Hey don't you have to go to the video store to rent _Breakfast at Timothy's?"_

"Tiffany's!" Both the Gilmores exclaimed.

"Sorry!" Luke raised his hand in defeat. "Come on, Lor, let's go."

"Okay, we'll see you at the house. See you later, babe."

"Bye, mom. Don't forget to get snacks!"

"Okay!"

Luke had a feeling that he was going to be horrified by the image of Lorelai shopping for snacks.

Rory and Jess walked silently heading towards the Gilmore house. They were both looking down at their feet. Jess broke the silence.

"So, that was very entertaining," Jess said as he chuckled.

"Don't laugh!"

"I'm not laughing. So Kirk's Exterminations™?"

"No. Never."

"Okay. Good."

Silence loomed over them as they continued to walk. They continued on not talking to each other until they have reached the Gilmore house but this time, Jess was looking at Rory looking at her feet. While Rory was looking for her house key, Jess pulled her towards him and their lips met with each other's.

***For those who want to know what the "Groucho eyebrow waggle" is watch this link: .com/watch?v=9P9S-N3IV10&feature=related

He does it after he says "What a ridiculous statement."


	4. Second Chance?

**Preamble: Okay, I know, I know. It took so long for me to upload and now you want to kill me. But here's the next installment. Mental block prevented me from uploading it as well as school and did I mention mental block? Now, I have completed it and hope you won't find this cheesy. Enjoy!**

Second Chance?

Jess pulled away and stared at Rory. He stood there, shocked at what he did. Could he not control himself? How could he have let his feelings run wild?

_What should I do?! Apologize? Act cool? Pretend it didn't happen? Ignore it? I WANT to pretend it didn't happen but I can't. She obviously won't forget about this either. Agh! Jess, you are such an idiot! Stupid, stupid!_

_I know! I should just run!_ He paused his thoughts. _Then, I would be a coward, great, _he thought sarcastically. _A time machine would be good right about now. —_

A soft voice interrupted his warring thoughts, "Umm, Jess?" Rory said bringing Jess back to reality without looking at him.

"Yeah?" Jess replied quietly, trying to look in her eyes.

Rory lifted her head to stare at him. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it immediately. She stared at him more. "Uhm, I'm going to…bed now… Good night, Jess," Rory said, confused as ever.

"Okay, good night," Jess said feeling as confused as she is and also feeling foolish. Jess watched Rory go into her house and close the door. He stood out there for a moment. He made a motion to open the door and go in but he stopped himself.

He walked back to Luke's apartment while his head crowded with thoughts of Rory.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_______________

Rory stood by the door frame of her room. She was trying to recollect her thoughts and figure out what happened.

_That did happen, didn't it? I'm pretty sure. I could still feel it. The main question is, why had he done it? It certainly wasn't bad. Was it good? Well, overall, it was a good kiss, but morally? I don't know. I need some sleep. I need some food._

Rory walked over to the fridge but saw that everything in there had to be cooked, a rarity in the Gilmore residence before Luke came. Fruits? No, she's a Gilmore girl for crying out loud.

A few minutes later, Rory heard people shuffling through the door.

"Rory, we come bearing food! And the adventures of Holly Golightly!" Lorelai exclaimed.

___________________

The three of them were in the living room in the middle of watching _Breakfast at Tiffany's_. Lorelai and Luke were situated on the couch while Rory was sitting on the floor, her back leaning on the couch.

Luke looked bored and lost track of the story. Lorelai was watching and giggling through the funny parts. Rory was just staring blankly at the screen.

In the movie, they were at the part where there's a party at Holly's place and people were dangerously drunk. There's this woman who got so drunk that she was going to pass out.

"Timber!" Lorelai yelled out with Holly. Then the lady fell to the ground. Lorelai noticed something was wrong. "Rory?"

"Huh?" Rory snapped out of her trance.

"Is there something wrong? You didn't yell out 'timber' with me."

"I didn't?"

"No. Do you want me to rewind it so we can do it together?"

"No, you don't have to. Actually, I feel kinda sleepy right now. I'm going to bed." Rory got up to go to her room. "'Night mom, 'night Luke."

"'Night," Luke said in a bored manner.

Lorelai, however paused the movie and followed Rory to her room. Lorelai knocked on Rory's door.

"Hun, are you okay?" Lorelai asked.

"Yes mom, I'm fine. I'm just tired that's all. Probably jet lag." Rory lied and flopped onto her bed.

"Okay." Lorelai said not believing this but didn't want to push it any further.

"'Night, mom."

"'Night, babe."

________________

Rory was awakened by tapping noises on her window.

"Stupid tree," Rory mumbled.

The tapping continued.

Rory siged and got up. She looked at her window but it was not a tree branch she saw.

"Jess?" Rory said as she saw Jess' apologetic face through the window. She contemplated whether to open the window.

She walked over to the window and opened it. "Jess, what time is it?" She asked drowsily.

"I don't know. It's just that, the kiss bothered me. Well, not in a way that disturbed me in a way that I don't want to kiss you again. I mean it was a really good kiss. It bothered me because it wasn't in my place to kiss you."

"Jess —" Rory started to say but Jess interrupted her.

"I'm really sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. Well, I wasn't thinking actually. I hope it isn't weird between us."

"Uhm, I don't know. We need to talk but not here. My mom or Luke might wake up."

"Okay."

"We should meet somewhere later. But I have to go to my grandparents' later. They haven't seen me yet since I came back here."

"Okay, well we'll meet when you get back from your grandparents'."

"Alright."

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­______________________

Lorelai stood outside Rory's door and sighed. _Leave it to Jess to cause speculation in a short amount of time. _She thought. _I'll just leave it to them to sort it out, I guess._

She headed back up the stairs worrying what will happen to her precious daughter. She hopes that she won't get hurt. _If he breaks my little girl's heart, I'm gonna crush him into pieces and feed him to the birds. Hmm… Maybe I should be under cover and secretly follow them. _Lorelai paused. _I'll think about it…_

__________________

The Gilmore girls stepped out of their car and approached the big mansion. They walked up to the door and stood out there for a while.

"You ready?" Lorelai asked Rory.

"Yes," Rory rolled her eyes. "It's not like I haven't visited grandma and grandpa before."

"Yes, but they haven't seen you in ages and you know how much they love you. Just look at the Stars Hollow crowd. They're just like that except they dress in clothes made by some foreign fashion designer whose last name seems to be the only one existent in the world."

"You're crazy."

"Maybe I am."

The conversation was dropped and they rang the doorbell. The door opened to reveal Emily smiling ear to ear.

"Rory! You're here!" Emily yelled as she pierced Lorelai's ears by her shriek.

"Hi grandma," Rory greeted back.

"Come in, come in! Richard! RORY'S HERE!"

Lorelai looked at Rory and said, "My eardrums are now pierced, thanks to you."

Richard came out of his office while buttoning his suit. "Rory! You look magnificent and more mature! Tell me, how's Barack?"

"Thank you grandpa. He's doing really well. Although, Hillary Clinton isn't doing as well as Barack.."

_____________________

"So Rory, did you enjoy the chicken?" Emily asked as the Gilmore family sat at the dining table eating merrily.

"It's really good," Rory said through some pieces of food in her mouth.

"That's good. Maxine, would you please take these plates away and prepare the dessert?" Emily said to the maid to which the maid nodded and started clearing the dishes.

"So mom, what's for dessert?" Lorelai asked.

"It's very delicious. Crème Brulée."

"Oooh, Crème Brulée. Nice," Rory said.

"Oh, Rory. I just remembered. We have a gift for you. Richard, where's the gift?"

"You didn't have to get anything for me," Rory said as she gushed.

"It's in the study," Richard said.

"Would you excuse me," Emily said as she stood up.

"No, you're not," Lorelai said.

"What?"

"You're not excused."

"Lorelai!"

"Don't take that tone with me!" Lorelai said as she did a mock parent's voice.

"Rory, make her stop!"

"Mom, you're grounded. Grandma, you can go," Rory said trying to be responsible.

"You're no fun!" Lorelai whined.

"Seriously, Lorelai, you're acting more like a child."

"Well, I'm bored."

"If you don't behave, you won't get dessert."

"Fine!" Lorelai said. Emily disappeared into the study.

A few moments of silence. Then Emily came out with a gold box with a bow on it. "Here Rory, open it," Emily said as she handed Rory the box.

"Thank you," Rory said as she took it. She unwrapped the golden bow and wrapper and tossed it aside.

"Do you like it? It's a digital book. Apparently, you can download books into it. You can have multiple books in there," Emily explained.

"Yes Rory, now you can have Dickens there along with Proust and many more. It can hold 7,500 pages. You can have about 160 books with you in just one little contraption," Richard continued.

"Wow, thank you grandma, thank you grandpa! I love it! My shoulder doesn't have to ache anymore from so many books! Nor do I have to hear mom talk about how I bring too many books!"

"I'm really glad you liked it Rory," Richard said as he beamed.

The Crème Brulées came and they all dig into it merrily and got caught up with Rory.

____________________

On the car ride home, Lorelai said, "It was really nice of my parents to get you that digital book. I don't have to hear you complain about shoulder pain."

"Yes. I'm so excited to download books into it! I already have a list going in my head!" Rory said ecstatically.

"Aww, my little book nerd."

As they got closer to Stars Hollow, Rory started to stiffen up a little. She knew she had to face this.

Lorelai parked in fron of Luke's and both of them got out. They went into Luke's and the bell dinged. "Oh Lukie!" Lorelai yelled out,

Luke came out from the kitchen and grabbed two mugs and a coffee pot, used to the drill. He approached to where Lorelai and Rory were sitting and set the cups down. "Hello," he said as he pecked Lorelai on the lips. "How was dinner?" he said as he poured coffee.

"Nothing much. Rory got a digital book from my parents."

"What's that?"

"It's sort of like an iPod except, instead of songs, you put books into it."

"What?"

"N-nevermind," Lorelai said as she gave up trying to inform Luke of the technologies of the 21st century. "Can we have pie?" she asked.

"Yeah sure," he went behind the counter and got them pie.

Jess suddenly appeared and said, "Hi Luke, Lorelai," he paused, "Rory."

Rory awkwardly said hi.

"I'm going out," Jess said and he went outside.

When Luke came back with their pies, Rory just stared at hers. Lorelai took bites out of her pie while talking to Luke about her eating habits.

"Mom, I'm gonna go to Lane's for a bit. I'll see you at home?" Rory said.

"Okay," Lorelai said trying to sound like it's not a big deal. With that, Rory left.

Rory found Jess outside, leaning on a phone booth.

"Hey," Rory said awkwardly.

"Hi. Can we talk somewhere else?"

"Sure."

Jess walked and Rory followed. They found themselves heading for the lake. They walked to the bridge and Jess sat down. He looked over at Rory and patted the area beside him with his left hand. Rory then awkwardly complied.

They just sat there for a moment. Jess trying to figure out what to say. _I'll just say it. Though you're been rejected by her many times but just say it. _

Jess took a deep breath and said, "Rory… I… I still love you."

Rory's heart seemed like it stopped. "You what?"

"I still love you," Jess said as it became a little easier to say it now that it's been revealed. "I tried stopping for so many years but I can't. I want to be with you. I want to hear you laugh and cry and talk about books and your opinions. Rory, I love everything about you. No one has ever made me this crazy before. No one."

Rory sat there as he heard his monologue. Trying to hold back tears. "I don't know. I've been hurt so much by you."

"But Rory! I've changed! I'm not the troubled kid from Stars Hollow anymore. I've grown up. I have a job, I'm more responsible now. Just…please?" Jess said, feeling the tears forming in his own eyes.

Rory looked at Jess. Tears rolling down her eyes now. "Jess, I want to love you but…"

"I'll try to make it easier for you. We could start in the awkward dating phase where I pick you up at your place. Then we'd go to dinner hoping that it will turn out good. I'll try to win you heart again. Please?"

Rory sniffed and stiffly nodded. "We'll try."

"Thank you," Jess smiled. He kissed Rory on the cheek.

Rory looked at him and smiled. "I have to go," she said.

"Okay," Jess said, understanding the drill. With that, she left. He watched her leave and stayed on the bridge a while.

**To be continued. If you didn't find this cheesy, please feel free to tell me so. (Hint: please comment!)**


End file.
